Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

As far as the film goes, it is well made and keeps you interested.**SPOILER** I watched this movie thinking that three innocent boys were found guilty of murder and was interested in finding out how that happened. By the end of the movie I was convinced these boys actually DID commit these crimes. First of all there was a confession, even though one or two details were not clear. Second, one of the boys admitted it to a fellow jail mate. Third, at the end of the movie, when they are found guilty, there is no emotion from them. As if they knew it was going to be a guilty verdict. Not the reaction of an innocent person, who would show some emotion. Asked one of the boys, "what will you do if you are found innocent?" and he said "found innocent???" as if that thought didn't cross his mind, as he had confessed to the crime and he in fact WAS GUILTY.It's also despicable how they try to blame the father of one of the murdered children. They believe one man could overpower and control three eight year olds, rather than three teenagers doing it? If there is a flaw in our justice system, it's not that they were found guilty, but that they were set free.

I always believed that a case needed only reasonable doubt to find people innocent. Apparently I was very wrong. I am in no way claiming my support for the three found guilty, but I for one could never convict them based on this evidence. The film shows just how unstable people can be when faced with those that don't conform. I was amazed by how much I disliked the parents of the murdered boys. They ramble and scream about killing these three, already convinced of their guilt. They seem more unstable and threatening to me, and not just because their children have been murdered. No real physical evidence is brought up against the boys, whom should probably start training professional killers on how not to leave evidence at a murder site. I know for a fact that a lot of details were left out of this documentary, and the celebrity worship that has followed the accused since is a bit too much. However this film is terrifying. It shows that just because of the way you look, and what people say about you, can take away your entire life. Make sure to check out all the evidence for yourself.

Few things really set me off like willful ignorance and unfortunately, this now classic Joe Berlinger doc about one of the greatest legal travesties of the 20th century gave me plenty of chances to reach for my blood pressure pills.All the jaw-dropping stupidity of the prosecuting attorney's non-factual "arguments" combined with the coercive tactics from their incompetent cop flunkies, layered with the basic terror rednecks seem to respond with at anything not layered in right-wing religious voodoo (in other words, things they can't understand) would be really hysterical if three children hadn't died because of it all, and three more teens (one being legally retarded) lives needlessly ruined.It's the subject matter that really carries things here. Berlinger's hand is steady but at times his camera seems a bit too eager to dive into trashy voyeurism. However, he makes up for it with some great investigative reporting techniques.The true horror, when you get past the dismembered bodies of the three second-grade kids, is the fact that the three so-called "goths" who allegedly killed them are drowned by a corrupt legal system with stacks of so-called "evidence" that is either implied, completely fabricated, based on here-say, or could never possibly have happened when simple logic and physics laws are applied.Meanwhile, reams of other, very plausible suspects accumulate and nothing is done to pursue them (yes, Mark, we're talking to you). Only a true Gomer would be so inept as to hand over a potential murder weapon to the documentary filmmaker who's following him around. But serial killers have been known to supply "helpful" evidence about their crimes."West Memphis is hell," says one of the West Memphis Three's relatives. It certainly is, especially if you don't tote no bible.

Distortion. Manipulation. Fear. Those are some of the things that convicted three boys of a brutal triple homicide. It's infuriating because THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE LINKING THEM TO THE CRIME! Three young boys are brutally murdered and sexually mutilated. Three teenagers are arrested and convicted of the crime. This isn't "Law and Order." This is about how distortion of the truth and insinuating facts can distort it. I was left wondering how they could convict three young men of such crimes with NO CREDIBLE WITNESSES! Especially when another man was clearly implicated in it.Disturbing? Yes. Infuriating? Absolutely. Perfect? Not quite..."Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills" is a two and a half hour long documentary, and while the filmmakers never waste a moment, it has a tendency to drag. Still, it's a must see.What's especially interesting about this film is that the directors are so even-handed about their subject. They tell the story from both sides of the issue. Yet it's kind of uneven when it comes to the people involved, though no doubt this is their intent to prove their point. There's no information about Jason Baldwin, even at the trial, no one mentions him. But what is there to say? He's "guilty by association." John Mark Byers is the only parent who's given any light, but his involvement is more suspicious than any of the accused (iMDb says his wife died a year later, and the cause is UNDETERMINED!).It's "The Crucible" in real-life.